Get basics right so pupils are prepared

FOR the second week running students and teachers in Wales are to be congratulated on their exam results.

Wales has recorded improved GCSE A* to C grades, but it’s not all good news.

School leaders say they are “extremely concerned” at the fall in the percentage of 16-year-olds passing English language and Welsh second language at A*-C.

If this fall is owing to new rigour in both exams, then both pupils and schools have to step up to the plate.

The Association of School and College Leaders Cymru called on the Welsh Government and regulators to work with them to find out what has caused the fall in grades.

There have been changes in entry patterns, as well as in the population, which will have affected results.

Whatever has happened the figures are clear: For English language, grade Cs are down 4.3 percentage points on last year, with 59.6% achieving these grades compared to 63.9% in 2018.

English literature results are down, with 74.9% of students achieving grades A*- C – compared to 79.7% last year.

Welsh second language results are down more than 10%, with 63.1% achieving grades A*-C in 2019, compared to 74.8% in 2018.

Education Secretary Kirsty Williams says the reformed English language GCSE concentrates more on spelling, punctuation and grammar.

This can only be a good thing, but if grades are falling there needs to be attention to how and what pupils are taught.

Welsh second language GCSE is also harder for some. The old short course has been ditched, so all pupils now have to take the new, full GCSE. Again, it can only be a good thing to have a more rigorous approach.

It is to be hoped that students this year have not been disadvantaged by harder exams. Qualifications Wales, the exams regulator, says it is happy the results are fair.

In the long run Wales needs to ensure standards expected here are as high as anywhere else, and especially across the border.

We cannot allow our young people to lag behind.

As Wales continues its reform of education it is essential we get the basics and the core subjects right and that we teach to, and expect the highest standards.

If exams have changed, the way pupils are taught must change too, to ensure they are fully prepared for the exams they sit.